20th Annual Panama Jazz Festival Announced for January 16-21, 2023

In 2023, Panama Jazz Festival celebrates its twentieth edition in a hybrid format. Last year’s festival gathered more than 60,000 people from 20 countries (virtually and on-site). For the 2023 edition, Panama Jazz Festival returns with hopes to see the public, fans and students come together during the festival week to continue their mission of inspiring lives through jazz music.

 “The Festival is a cultural project that, over 19 years, has consolidated creativity, exchange, and talent, with a strong commitment to education and social welfare in Panama. It is the largest cultural event in the region, which has had the participation of thousands of artists and public from all over the world, adding more than 500 thousand attendees in its 19 past editions,” said Artistic Director Danilo Perez.

“The Panama Jazz Festival, in its twentieth edition, will pay tribute to the 1,000-plus people that work to make the festival happen. Every year the festival celebrates a Panamanian musician related to the history of jazz in Panama and the world, but every five years, the festival celebrates all the people that made the festival happen. The festival happens thanks to approximately 500 volunteers, 300 national and international artists, 70 coordinators, and 200 collaborators from the state, press, nonprofit, and corporate sector,” said Executive Director Patricia Zarate.

In January of 2023, the Panama Jazz Festival will feature renowned artists who have already confirmed their participation in the event, such as Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes; singer Catherine Russell (daughter of Panamanian native pioneer of jazz Luis Russell); Children of the Light featuring bassist John Patitucci, drummer Brian Blade and pianist Danilo Perez; Latin pop star singer-songwriter (of the global sensational song “Despacito”) Erika Ender, master drummer from Cuba Roman Diaz; and the all-star ensemble Global Jazz Womxn featuring Israeli sax player Lihi Haruvi. Other artists include Proyecto Acustico from El Salvador and distinguished national projects such as the Luis Russell Collective, Hijas del Jazz Big Band, Anthony Morris Kuna Jazz Quintet, Panamanian folk star Celsito Quintero, Idania Dowman, and many more. In addition, through the program Arts Envoy, the Embassy of the United States in Panama will be hosting distinguished global jazz musicians Farayi Malek, Nadia Washington and Chase Morrin.

A week of enriching concerts highlighting the great gala night held at the Anayansi Theater in Atlapa Convention Center on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. The same theater will present great live jazz performances on Thursday, January 19, and Friday, January 20. Ateneo Theater, located in the City of Knowledge, will also present night concerts on Monday and Tuesday of the week of the festival; and Wyndham Hotel will present intimate performances every afternoon.

The Panama Jazz Festival’s signature educational events will happen at the City of Knowledge and will host distinguished institutions such as Berklee College of Music and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, the New England Conservatory, and New York Jazz Academy, among others. The Festival will be celebrating the 11th Latin American Music Therapy Symposium bringing together music therapists from Panama, Chile, the United States, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, among other countries. Other important symposiums that will take place during the festival include the 2nd Symposium of Natives Peoples, the 7th Symposium of the Culture and Music of Afro-Panamanians, and the first Symposium of Panama and the Caribbean in Jazz History.

The twentieth Panama Jazz Festival will have the Ciudad del Saber as its educational venue, and the official hotel will be the Wyndham Panama Albrook Mall Hotel & Convention Center. The festival will also feature hundreds of national and international musicians in a virtual format. Artists worldwide are invited to share their videos with the festival and be part of our online platform. Some educational and artistic performances will also be streamed during the event on our social media.

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